Margaret Leinen, director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and a highly distinguished national leader and oceanographer, has been selected to join the distinguished Leadership Council of the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative, based in Washington, D.C.

Leinen is an award-winning oceanographer and an accomplished executive with extensive national and international experience in ocean science, global climate and environmental issues, and federal research administration.

The Joint Ocean Commission Initiative works closely with national, regional, and state leaders and with the private sector to advance positive and lasting changes in the management of the nation’s oceans and coasts. Created in 2005 as a collaborative effort between the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy and the Pew Oceans Commission, the Joint Initiative has sustained a broad-based, bipartisan effort to catalyze meaningful ocean policy reform and action at the national, regional, and state levels. These reforms are grounded in the recommendations embodied in the two commissions’ reports on the oceans, with the Joint Initiative regularly updating the recommendations for continued relevance in the face of changing challenges and political circumstances.

"I'm very pleased to join the company of this stellar group of leaders who are earnestly working to improve ocean management through a shared commitment to achieving a cohesive and coordinated national ocean policy," said Leinen. "I strongly support their stated objectives that healthy and thriving ocean and coastal ecosystems are critical to our sustained economic and environmental well-being, health, and standard of living."

In addition to Leinen, four other ocean leaders have joined the Leadership Council:

Frances Beinecke – President of the National Resources Defense Council